The 3 Best Anime You'll Ever Watch

I didn't use to like anime...

My opinion of anime used to be low. I thought of them as cartoons with poor graphics and little anime girls running around with squeaky dubbed voices. That was before I discovered Jigoku Shoujo. It was the anime that got me started on animes. The graphics were awesome and, even though the english dub sucked (face it, a lot of dubs do), at least the voices weren't squeaky (I ended up watching it in english sub, anyway.) But, even though I love the Jigoku Shoujo anime, it's not one of my top three animes. See below to find the three best animes you'll ever (or should) watch.

#3." Perfect Girl Evolution" - aka "The Wallflower"

Beautiful boys vs. Goth girl from hell

Sunako is a girl convinced that she is hideously ugly because of what one boy said. She confessed her love for him an he replied that he didn't date ugly girls. Heart-broken, Sunako shuns anything beautiful, becoming utterly engrossed in the dark things in life. She owns three very freaky anatomical looking dolls.

Her aunt, worried for her niece, sends her to live in a mansion with four typical hot anime guys. The aunt is their landlady and strikes a bargain with the four boys: if they make Sunako into a proper young lady, then they can live in the mansion rent-free, but...if they fail then then their rent gets will get tripled!

The four boys (Kyouhei, Takenaga, Ranmaru and Yuki) are pretty confident about it...until they meet Sunako. When they first meet her, she's lurking around in the bushes, bearing a startling resemblance to The Grudge. They make many futile attempts to get her to come out of her room, which are quite hilarious. Because every time she sees them she cringes away from the "creatures of light", an often faints. She prefers sulking in her room, in the dark, talking to her dolls. Panicked, the four boys think up different ways to bring her out of her shell. They try to get her to show her face, but she refuses. They all go to the same school together, where the school girls are complete fans of Kyouhei, Takenaga, Ranmaru and Yuki, especially a cliché of girls who resemble a male octopus and like to yell, "Goth! Goth! Loli! Loli!" (these Goth-Loli girls are pretty much stalkers.)

The school newspaper want Sunako's face on their front cover, and soon they've got the whole school chasing Sunako. She hides in a closet and a gang of girls find her and brandish a pair of scissors, threatening to cut off her bangs so they can see her face. Kyouhei heroically saves her. Soon you discover that only when Sunako loses her temper does she become beautiful, simply because that's the only time she comes out of her shell. The series is really funny, but you usually have to watch the first couple of episodes in parts (i.e. "part 1", "part 2", "part 3")

This is an anime to check out if you're looking for a romantic (and yet incredibly creepy) comedy.

#2. Elfen Lied - "All this time, I've lived in hope of telling you how sorry I am, I've fought armies, just to have this chance, but now, there's nothing I can

"All this time, I've lived in hope of telling you how sorry I am, I've fought armies, just to have this chance, but now, there's nothing I can say that's good enough." -Lucy

A new species has been born, but next to no people know about them. They are the Diclonius, a mutant species that look like humans, but are distinguishable by two horns on their head and their "vectors", which are transparent arms that they control with their minds. They can use these vectors to kill people within a certain distance (depending on the Diclonius.)

The story centers around "Lucy", a Diclonius who has been held in an institution for the majority of her life. Both the anime and the manga begin with her escape from the institution. On her escape she kills many people, showing no mercy. Her captors shoot at her, but miss, instead blowing off her helmet and making a wound of the side of her head. From this injury an alternate personality, known as "Nyuu", is created. Nyuu has a childlike personality and doesn't know how to speak, only repeating "nyuu, nyuu" over and over, which is actually pretty cute.

Lucy, now Nyuu, is washed up on the shore of the ocean and found by Kouta (or Kohta, depending on how you spell it) and his cousin Yuka. Kouta is currently living in an old inn owned by Yuka's family, on the condition that it cleans it. Lucy/Nyuu, Kouta, and Yuka are all 18/19 years old.

Kouta takes Nyuu in and allows her to stay at the old inn with him. Yuka decides to move in with them also, after a few...awkward (yet accidental) scenes happen and she is convinced that Kouta is only trying to get it on with Nyuu.

Meanwhile, back at the institution, they create a Special Assault Team (SAT) lead by a blood thirsty trooper named Bando to go after Lucy.

After a couple episodes we're introduced to Nana, another Diclonius being held at the institution. Her vectors are longer than Lucy's (which can only reach 2 meters, while Nana's can reach 5 meters), though Lucy is stronger. Unlike most Diclonius, Nana is good-natured and refuses to kill humans in order to please Kurama (whom she believes is her "papa", Kurama is a carrier of the Diclonius virus, but isn't a Diclonius himself.) Diclonius can be born from normal humans, which is how they came to be.

The most powerful Diclonius in the Elfen Lied anime is Mariko (whose vectors reach up to 11 meters.) The basic premise of the anime is the SAT team trying to get Lucy back, while she lives with the oblivious Kouta, Yuka, and a 13-yr-old runaway. Throughout the anime Nyuu switches back to her Lucy personality when hurt or confronted with violent situations. You also discover Lucy, Kouta, and Yuka's past and how their lives are intertwined.

The anime only lasts for 13 episodes, but the manga continues long after the anime ends. So if you want to find out what happens after the anime ends, look up the manga online, or go to: http://manga.animea.net/elfen-lied-chapter-1-page-... (where you can read the full manga series online.)

NOTE: This anime contains explicit violence and some nudity. Not recommended for anyone under the age of 17.

#1. Death Note - "I can't even imagine a world without Light!" Misa exclaimed. "Yes, it would be quite dark," L replied.

"Did you know, L? Shinigami only eat apples."

Finally, the one we've all been waiting for, the best of the best: Death Note.

This anime manga is very popular. It started with the manga, got turned into an anime, then three live action movies were made. Death Note 1, Death Note 2, and "L: Change The World". I've seen Death Note (the manga) at the library, but never checked it out...and never knew what I was missing. I recently started watching the anime, and I have to say, I'm hooked!

The story begins with Light Yagami, a very intelligent high school student who stumbles across the Death Note. The Death Note is a notebook where, if you write the name of someone in it (with the image of their face in your mind), they will die of a heart attack in the next 40 seconds unless the cause of death is specified within the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds. The Death note also has many other rules, some are the following:

-The human whose name is written in this note shall die.

-This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

-If the cause of death is written within the next 40 seconds of writing the person’s name, it will happen.

-If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.

-After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

- The notebook shall become the property of the human world, once it touches the ground of (arrives in) the human world.

- The owner of the note can recognize the image and voice of the original owner, i.e. a god of death/shinigami.

Light decides to test it out on a criminal, when the criminal dies, he becomes shocked.

Then a shinigami (god of death) named Ryuk appears. Ryuk dropped his Death Note on earth and hangs around Light. No one can see Ryuk unless they touch the Death Note. Light begins killing criminals, but without specifying the cause of death. Suspicions arise at the amount of criminals dying of heart attacks. People begin calling the cause of death "Kira", and soon the police are searching for this "Kira", though they don't know how he is able to kill these criminals. Many people believe that Kira is good, agreeing with killing criminals, but there are some who disagree, believing that Kira is evil...and a murderer.

Light's father is the police chief and Light has his ways of hacking into the top secret information to find the names and faces of the criminals to kill them.

The police department enlists the help of the famous, yet anonymous detective known as "L". He offers his help through his assistant "Watashi". Though Light is clever, "L" matches his intellect, and is able to discover many of his moves, thus beginning to suspect the Yagami family. This anime is very entertaining, serious, and the best ever!

It's L vs. Light, will Light succeed in his mislead plan to be the god of the new world? Or will L discover his identity, and learn about the Death Note?

If you are an anime lover, this is an anime you can't miss! (I watch it in english dub on animecrazy.com, it's the only anime I've found where the english dub sounds good!)